Alps Touchpad GlidePoint CWTKGDDCA901

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Alps Touchpad GlidePoint CWTKGDDCA901

For anyone that might be wondering about using an Alps GlidePoint trackpad with their IIGS, I'd like to say this thing seems to work pretty great. I picked up one off Amazon for $19.95 after deciding I wanted something that wasn't a ball-mouse type pointing device. It is an ADB device that I'm using plugged into an Apple Design Keyboard M2980 ADB bus and have had absolutely no problems with it in GS/OS. I point this out simply because I couldn't find much information on some of this hardware in conjunction with the Apple II series. Lots of stuff about the Macs, sort of like the SyQuest 88 MB SCSi with the 44 MB cartridge... seems to work great but I can't find much info. BTW, if you have info you can post I would be very happy to use it. Especially if you have info on the Apple IEEE-488 card that is not in German :)

Anyway, I haven't posted much in any Apple II forums but I had one back in the 80's and loved the thing, especially the Beagle Brothers, Wizards, Ultima stuff.

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You talked me into it.

You talked me into it.

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I bought one about 2 years

I bought one about a year ago on eBay. I thought it would be new old stock but it was just NEW.. And I was pleased with it and the price. Mice are great but sometimes the ball doesnt track as well and the glidepoint is better.

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How are you differentiating

How are you differentiating between "new old stock" and "new"?

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Tom Owad wrote:How are you
Tom Owad wrote:

How are you differentiating between "new old stock" and "new"?

I suppose, by a specific defintion of 'old'. In general, in any industry, something is 'Old Stock' when it is no longer manufactured. Thus, a 6 year old product can be NOS. It depends on how long the lifecycle of the product is/was. In general application, we tend not to use 'Old Stock' until it has been out of production for ten years, or more, or stock from the OEM runs out, but even then, that is abstract. 

 

Imagine a key blank for a car. If you can still buy it from the OEM, but it is 50 years old, it is NOS. If you cannot buy it from the OEM, but it is 10 years ols, it is also NOS. The definition of 'old stock' implies that it is generally not available in this condition, and is as I said, abstract. 

 

Note that I find it hard to think of something from 1995-6 as being 'old', which likely says a lot about me, personally. 

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You should determine is that

You should determine is that card is IEEE-488.0, 488.1, or 488.2. The two primary uses of them are for controlling external micro-controllers (robotics, test equipment), and for 70s to early 80s peripherals. The 488.2 spec is where things get interesting, as it established a lot of useful protocols and HP (IIRC) created a design spec for addressing devices via a specific language. 

 

Really, as long as you know how the signals are mapped to the Apple II bus, you can access them. I did not closely examine the photos of that card or its components to determine what it is using. I possibly falsely assumed that by the fact that you knew it was a GPIB card, that you were versed in the standard. 

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Timelord wrote:Tom Owad wrote
Timelord wrote:
Tom Owad wrote:

How are you differentiating between "new old stock" and "new"?

I suppose, by a specific defintion of 'old'. In general, in any industry, something is 'Old Stock' when it is no longer manufactured.

I agree, but I'm not sure that's what Verault means, as I doubt ADB Glidepoints are still being manufactured.

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Not sure about mine but I

Not sure about mine but I found that there are quite a few of them available on multiple sites. The one I received was definitely new in the sense that it was still completely sealed. Sadly there isn't a production date stamped anywhere. It was definitely money well spent. I still have a normal IIGS mouse but only for show and tell. The trackpad has taken its place for actual use as my desk is damaged and the ball on the mouse doesn't roll very well.

I'm nearly positive the card is IEEE-488.1 compliant and doesn't have the .2 functionality. I'm hoping to be able to do some testing as I have an HP 9816 with a couple of external drive systems as well as a couple of pieces of test equipment. I'm curious to see exactly what the Apple IEEE-488 card can do with those pieces of hardware. I just hope I don't have to write extensive drivers for them as I'm not sure it's worth that much trouble just to satisfy my curiousity.

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IIGS and Glidepoint

Howdy!  Are any drivers needed to work with the IIGS?  I just got one off ebay, but I didn't get a driver disk with it.

 

-Davetron

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